Communist China's president Xi Jinping has acknowledged that the country's founding father, Mao Zedong, made "mistakes", as Mao admirers celebrated the 120th anniversary of the late leader's birth with noodles and fireworks.

First Ford, then Rosella. And now Australia must face the demise of another Australian icon, with the announcement last night that the Kevin Rudd industry would close its doors forthwith.

The nation's small, artisanal Australian idiom industry last night was in chaos, as it faced the loss of its single biggest patron, and the return to obscurity of such Rudd-sponsored favourites as "Brisvegas", "brekkers", "gotta zip" and "fair shake of the sauce bottle".

Trekking the Kokoda Trail in Papua New Guinea is a long way from the rugged, remote mining town of Broken Hill. Jarrah Seager (16) is physically challenged as part of a NSW youth leadership development program.

An expense account was once a way to ensure average citizens - not just the landed gentry - could aspire to Australian public office. What would our early colonial politicians make of today's headlines?